Ties That Bind
by Dark Card Mistress
Summary: The arrival of an ancient sets into motion a chain of events and a forgotten past. Sequel to ‘Tomorrow’. Edited and rewritten! Between Before I Sleep and The Brotherhood. Spoilers for SG1 Sn 9. JohnElizabeth. AU
1. Default Chapter

**Ties That Bind**

Chapter One: Default Chapter

"So, did you seal the deal?"

John Sheppard was now walking along side Elizabeth Weir, on the grasses of an alien planet named Eirene.

"I'd like to think so but as you should know Major, we're invited to their ceremony in the hopes of sealing the deal." Elizabeth said as they got to the Stargate to check in.

"Lets hope that McKay isn't too dramatic until that time comes." They boarded the Jumper to meet the rest of the team.

"Lucky us, we're all invited to a ceremony!" said John cheerfully to Teyla, Rodney, Ford, Markus and Stackhouse.

"Oh thank god! I'm not going to die from hunger after all!" John, Markus and Stackhouse merely rolled their eyes at Rodney. "What?" Elizabeth cut in before anyone could reply and start bickering.

"Alright then peoples. The ceremony starts at 1800 hours Atlantis Standard Time so we've got just enough time to check in. Dial it up Lieutenant."

"Yes ma'am." Ford started punching in the chevrons on the control panel of the Puddle Jumper.

"What does this ceremony involve, Dr. Weir?" Teyla inquired.

"They didn't tell us much except for the fact that it will be a short ceremony and is very important to their people, so we can't say no, even if we wanted." Elizabeth took a seat in the rear end of the Jumper.

"They also said something about asking the ancestors if it would be alright to give us a supply of food." John joined Elizabeth and offered her a Power bar. She declined.

"And just _how_ are they going to do that?" Rodney took the Power bar that John offered him next and started munching away.

"Your guess is as good as ours."

Ford walked to the exit of the Jumper. "Ok, we're ready to go."

All seven piled out as John hit the button on the remote and the Jumper cloaked. Elizabeth raised a brow in this action.

John shrugged back in reply. "You can never be too sure."

* * *

"Ah! Welcome back, Major! I hope you are ready for the ceremony." said Euphrosyne, the village leader and head priest.

"Umm…. about that? What is it exactly do we do?" Rodney asked from behind John.

"All in due time, Doctor. Then you will see," Euphrosyne guided them into the central part of the village.

There, the locals had all gathered in a circle as Euphrosyne ushered the Atlantis team to the middle and told them to line up. Euphrosyne stood in front of them, in his great white robes, with a priest at either side of him with similar clothes.

He started chanting in a different language with his hands out in front of him. The sky above started to darken and gray clouds gathered. Rodney made a face as he put his hands over his head, hoping to shelter himself from possible rain.

"May the leaders come forth," Euphrosyne said.

John looked at Elizabeth with an uneasy glance and she returned it with a reassuring smile. They both stepped forward, with John staying close Elizabeth, as the chanting resumed.

The two priests beside Euphrosyne stepped forward, both holding a ceramic bowl with clear liquid, and trailed a line of the liquid from their forehead to the bridge of their nose and repeated this to the others. After that was done, they returned the bowls to a stand. One picked up two red strings while the other picked up five blue strings. The first tied the red string around both John and Elizabeth's wrists. The other did the same to Teyla, Aiden, Rodney, Stackhouse and Markus with the blue strings.

There was one more last chant before all became quiet as two drops of rain hit both John and Elizabeth's head but neither of them moved incase they did something wrong. A moment passed before the clouds above cleared and the sunshine came through. Rodney sighed in relief that no water got on him.

"The ancestors have given us permission." Euphrosyne smiled at the two Atlantean leaders.

"What just happened?" John asked, still looking at the sky.

"You were linked with the ancestors. You may return home with your first delivery."

Elizabeth returned the smile. "Thank you, Euphrosyne. We appreciate this greatly."

"No, no! We are delighted to have you as our friends."

The seven bowed as they made their way back to the jumper with a week worth of food.

* * *

"This stuff, thankfully, taste like Earth food." said Rodney as he scooped a bit of what looked like ice cream into his mouth. John, Teyla, Rodney, Ford and Elizabeth were eating a substitute for ice cream that the Eirenes had given them in Elizabeth's office, as a little celebration.

They all nodded happily as they watched various members of the Atlantis exhibition eat variety of foods below them on the gate level and in the control room. By the time they finished, they realized that it was getting quite late and decided to turn in. Elizabeth lingered behind, wanting to finish up some work that she hadn't finished.

"Uh, big no-no there." Elizabeth looked up at John.

"Come on John, I just need to finish this. I'll be finished soon."

"Well, in that case if you're going to be done soon, I'll wait for you to finish up." He put on a small grin, which made Elizabeth smile. John slumped in the chair opposite of hers and leaned back.

Ten minutes had passed before he sat up and walked around the table to look at what she was doing that was so important. He leaned so close to her that she felt his breath on he neck. She paused in her typing and closed her eyes for a moment before snapping them open.

"You're a distraction, you know that?"

"Yep!" he answered back, his usual smug grin in place directed at Elizabeth.

She sighed and massaged her temples. "Okay! I'm off to bed."

"Great! I'll walk you to your room." John smiled at Elizabeth who in turn looked up at him questioningly.

"I'm not going to get abducted on the way to my room right?"

"No! It's just because your room is on the way to mine."

"Point taken." Thus, they walked along side down the corridors to their respective quarters.

* * *

"_Astarea, I'm sorry. Good-bye," said a man with green eyes as he caressed his lover's cheek before leaving her quarters. _

"_Apollyon," mumbled the asleep female._

Elizabeth woke up with a start with beads of sweat trickling down her forehead. Her breath was shallow and she blinked the sleep out of her eyes. She looked out the window of her quarters as she recalled the dream. 'It's the same man from the other time…'

Elizabeth sighed and rubbed her eyes before swinging her legs over her bed to dress for the day ahead. She tied the laces of her boots and stretched as the sun shone through the room, sunlight pooling the room. She reached over and accessed her radio, looping it over her ear, tapping it twice making sure that it wasn't broken. As she walked down the hall whilst pushing her thoughts of the dream out of her head, John had just exited his own quarters down the hall from hers. Elizabeth smiled to him and he fell into step with her. In Elizabeth's opinion, he looked as if he just woken up and got dressed in a rush.

"Had a bad dream?" Elizabeth shot him a sideways glance.

"Yeah, oddest thing. I think it was set in Atlantis but it looked different…"

* * *

"There's been energy being used throughout Atlantis, yes, but one of the unexplored areas has been getting more energy then the other unexplored places." Atlantis One was presently seating around the table in the briefing room with Rodney explaining to Elizabeth about the unusual power consumption in the unexplored areas of the city.

"And you want to go down there and find out for yourself why it's doing that, correct?" Elizabeth leaned back in her chair. Rodney nodded.

"Well hang on, why are you noticing it now?" John asked Rodney, leaning forward in his seat.

"Well, I'm not entirely sure but it only started recently. Who knows what we might find there, maybe it's a weapon to defend ourselves from the Wraith."

"Okay Doctor, you have a go. Report in when you reach the area."

tbc...

* * *

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Dark Card Mistress


	2. Missing

_A/N: Yes, some may have noticed that you've read a sotry similar to this and is thinking 'what the hey?'. Well, it's the same story just re-written a bit and edited from the last version since now my writing has improved. Enjoy!_

**Ties That Bind**

Chapter Two: Missing

"Okay Elizabeth, we're here," John's voice crackled over the radio.

"Good. Now scout out the area and see if McKay can figure out why that particular area has been omitting more energy than the others. Report back as soon as you find something. Weir out," said Elizabeth.

"Copy that." John looked up to his team. "Okay campers! Time to scout out the area. Teyla, Ford, make sure the area is secure while I stay here with McKay." Teyla and Ford nodded as they set off while Rodney set his equipment down on the floor and took out his laptop as John looked around the room they were in. In the center of the room, there was a large database with a large blank screen to go with it. Rodney plugged in his laptop to the database and started clicking away on his keys.

John shined the light of his P-90 around the room and saw that there were many control panels and screens similar to the one in the middle of the room. On the far end on the room was a corridor that Teyla and Ford had taken and was about to ask Ford if it was safe, when the lights came on.

"Perfect." Rodney muttered as he got up and turned the large screen on.

John stepped forward. "Er, McKay, you sure you should done that?"

"Yes, Major, I am sure. This place appears to be a lab, obviously. Once I tap into the system, I'll be able to tell you what this particular lab was used for."

"Major Sheppard. I think I've found something that may be of interest." said Teyla over the radio.

"Okay, I'll be right there." John clicked his radio and turned to Rodney. "can I leave you here alone and be okay without me?"

"Yes, thank you Major! I'll be fine. It's not like some monster is going to come and chew my head off," Rodney said sarcastically as John left him and started down the corridor that Teyla and Ford had.

When John got to their position, he looked at what Teyla and Ford was so interested in. All three of them stared at the object in question for a while before John broke eye contact.

"Well, that's a twist." John clicked his radio and contacted Elizabeth.

* * *

"She's perfectly preserved and for some reason, hasn't aged physically," said Carson as he looked up from one of the monitors.

"Can you deactivate the chamber?" Elizabeth looked at the chamber in front of her, which held a female with long black hair, wearing a white dress, like the Older Weir did, as scientists busied themselves around her.

"Pretty sure but we should have medics standing by just in case." Rodney came and stood next to Carson with a computer pad in hand.

"Oh of course! Git." Carson said as if Rodney were stupid.

"Well, I was just checking!" Rodney pressed a few buttons but nothing happened. He repeated the process as still nothing happened.

"Nothing happened."

Rodney then turned to Ford. "How marvelously perceptive of you" came the sarcastic reply.

"There's something wrong. This stasis pod has a firewall protecting the pod meaning that only the person within can wake himself or herself," said Zelenka as he read off the information being translated from Ancient to English on the laptop connected to one of the databases.

"Well, I wonder how she can do that if she asleep." Rodney paused before continuing. "I wonder if anyone could ever do that!"

"There is something written here. It is in Ancient." Teyla pointed to the side of the pod.

Elizabeth bent down and squinted at the faint writing on the side of the stasis pod. "Rodney, get this translated ASAP."

* * *

Elizabeth sighed as she rubbed her fingers on her forehead and took off her headset to massage her ear. The reports on what's been happening were extensive, not to mention that her chair was incredibly uncomfortable. She couldn't remember the last time she had a good night sleep since she slept in her office with John. Deciding that it was time for a break, she got up and walked to the commissary, leaving the forgotten earpiece of her desk.

As she walked through the corridors of Atlantis, she was glad that most of the scientists were preoccupied with the stasis pod they found, meaning that she could get lunch and eat someplace nice without interruptions. She continued until she got to the mess hall, took a sandwich and coffee before heading to the north pier.

* * *

"Maybe we can revive her manually," said Rodney as he, Carson and Zelenka walked down to the lab where the ancient was being held.

"Uh-huh, sure, and just how do we do that, lad?" Carson started waving his hands, "Wave our hand and suppose she revives herself?"

"Ha-ha! Very funny Carson. Zelenka! You think of anything?" Zelenka shook is head. "Well let's hope we can get some of that ancient writing translated."

When they entered the lab, they were greeted with something highly peculiar. They turned to the guards.

"Ah guys? The lady in the pod? Where'd she go?" Rodney pointed to the stasis chamber.

All the guards and scientists that were in the room whirled around and saw, in fact, that there was no one in the stasis chamber. It was empty.

"Aww crap." Carson radioed Elizabeth. "Dr. Weir, we have a tad problem." Carson looked at the two scientists before him, as all he received was silence. "Hello? Dr. Weir?"

Carson sighed as he turned to Rodney. "She mustn't have her earpiece." Rodney scoffed.

"Don't be ridiculous! She never takes it off!"

"You and I both know that she hasn't had a proper night's rest and that one time in her office doesn't count. Hopefully, she's on a break, maybe even resting."

"Which means maybe we could find the ancient before she finds out," suggested Zelenka.

Rodney held up a finger while his other hand hovered over his headset. "We'll have to tell Sheppard. No way in hell we can find the ancient and not be noticed by him."

* * *

"What do you mean you lost her?" John yelled as he, Teyla and Ford marched into the room. "How can you lose a frozen ancient?"

"Well it's not our fault! She was supposed to be frozen. One minute she there, the next she isn't. Not much to know."

"This city is too big, who knows where she is by now. Have you contacted Elizabeth?"

Zelenka looked up from his laptop. "We tried her personal radio and the intercoms but no response."

"We're assuming she's asleep in her quarters." Carson said as a marine ran into the room.

"Sir, I just checked. Dr. Weir isn't in her room."

"Great, now we have two females missing," Rodney sighed as Teyla shot him a look.

"We've got the life signs detector online and we have swept the base."

Teyla looked confused. "But it does not tell individuals."

"No, but now we've got an idea where to search."

"Okay, teams of two, full gear. Ford, you're with me," said John as they all filed out, leaving the scientists behind.

* * *

Elizabeth opened the balcony door of the north pier; her lunch consisting of a sandwich and coffee on hand, and noticed that there was someone already there. The female in question turned around and look at Elizabeth.

"Hello." The female looked at Elizabeth. The unwavering gaze freaked Elizabeth just a little, like she was looking though her not at her.

So she turned to leave. "Sorry, I didn't know that anyone was here. I'll leave if you want…"

"No, please stay." The strange accented lady asked. Elizabeth nodded and walked to the balcony railing, where the female was, and propped her cup of coffee on the railing.

"Hi, I don't believe I've seen you around before. I'm Dr. Elizabeth Weir."

"No, don't suppose you have. I am Astarea."

"You're not from Earth, are you?"

"No, I am not among your kind, well, not the exact kind, to say the least." Elizabeth noticed that she didn't really want to say anymore, so she didn't push the subject. They stood there in a comfortable silence for a while, both enjoying the air. Elizabeth took a bite of her sandwich and examined Astarea from the corner of her eye.

She had hazel eyes with a tinge of green that reminded Elizabeth of her own green eyes, fair yet pale skin that would have made anyone else look like a ghost. Dark reddish brown medium length hair that fell just below her shoulders made Elizabeth think for she too had the same color hair. Astarea also looked around the same height and age as Elizabeth. Frankly, the similarities made Elizabeth think as if they were related.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but you look familiar," Elizabeth commented, looking at Astarea once more.

Astarea was about to answer here when John and Ford barged through the door, onto the balcony. Elizabeth looked up from her coffee in alarm.

John cleared his throat. "Dr. Weir, there you are."

"Here I am." Elizabeth smiled nervously, not sure what was going on. "What's going on?"

"Um, I hate to break it to you but…Rodney and his team lost the ancient." Elizabeth sighed.

"This is partly why I don't take breaks," she muttered to herself. "Okay, why am I hearing about this now?"

"We tried ma'am, but you didn't have your headset with you. We tried the intercoms too." Ford looked at the female next to Elizabeth. John, seeing that Lt. Ford's eyes was elsewhere, followed his stare and came upon a female that he hadn't seen around.

John nodding to Astarea asked, "Who's the new friend you've made, Elizabeth?"

"Oh, this is Astarea. She's apparently not from…" All three heads turned to Astarea as Elizabeth realized something.

Astarea finished Elizabeth's sentence. "Earth, that is correct."

"She doesn't look Athosian to me…" Ford commented.

"I am neither Athosian or from Earth." Realization dawned upon the trio as they looked at Astarea in shock.

tbc...

* * *

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Dark Card Mistress


	3. Her Story

**Ties That Bind**

Chapter Three: Her Story

"You don't look like the female in the stasis chamber though. For one, you have different hair altogether." John looked at Astarea carefully.

John and Ford turned, looking at her properly as Elizabeth took a sip of her coffee. Astarea was wearing a dark blue, sleeveless dress with two slits up her dress just above her knees. Underneath, she wore black, laced boots. She had no jewellery on except for a lone silver earring, in the shape of a simple dragon or seahorse made with one line, on her left earlobe.

"What you saw was a hologram, projected from inside the chamber in front of me. You would not have seen me behind it," said Astarea.

John raised his eyebrows. "Why?"

"So I could move around freely. See if it was the same, as I once knew. I just never anticipated that I would be discovered so quickly."

"And by accident, at that. Maybe we should talk about this some place more suitable. Lets go into the com. room." Elizabeth said as she guided Astarea out, followed by John and Aiden.

"Sir, do you read? We couldn't find the ancient or Dr. Weir," Stackhouse reported over the radio.

"No worries, Sergeant, we've got them."

"Yes sir."

John turned to the females and gestured them towards the door. "Ladies first."

As the four of them walked towards the control tower with John and Ford behind the two females, John leaned towards Ford and whispered quietly in his ear.

"Is it just me or does Elizabeth and Astarea both have an uncanny resemblance?"

Ford looked at the two backs but noticed that they were the exact same height and had the same hair color. "Long lost twin?"

"Highly doubt it since Astarea was frozen on Atlantis for thousands of years." Ford chuckled and nodded.

* * *

Everyone was now seated around the conference table, listening to Astarea describe what happened to her to place her in her current predicament now.

"The very first of my kind were limited to a few thousands. We were called the Alterans but somewhere along the line when I was asleep, everyone called us ancients or the ancestors. I was one of them. The others decided that they would put one of us in stasis for the near future, to teach the young ones. I was chosen along with another but she was left behind on Earth to teach the new generation. There were also others who stayed on Earth to guard weapons placed in remote locations but that is all. The others programmed the database near my chamber so that all the information stored in any database would link up to me to learn what's been happening over time. One day, I was awoken prematurely."

_Astarea woke up, confused as to why she did. She stepped out of the chamber and walked around the room to the door. As she walked to the control room in Atlantis, the ground shook and the alarm went off as many people rushed past her. She changed her destination to a room, which she was positive that no one but someone her specific DNA could enter. She looked around the room, happy that it was just as she had left it._

_She walked around the room and gathered two daggers and a spear where both ends were sharp. She clicked the daggers on her waist belt that she found in the room and left the room, marching to the control room._

"If you are an ancient like you say you are, why spears and daggers? Why not just use the advanced technology that you have?" Ford looked back at everyone who looked his way.

"The "advanced" technology we had at the time was made to temporarily make the victim loose consciousness, not to kill."

Rodney held up his finger. "Question before we continue. How did you wake up? This time I mean."

"Someone must have touched something on one of the databases to awaken me." Rodney muttered darkly at that statement.

_She passed many people with questioning looks but silenced them with a look. She finally got to the control room where Melia is standing with Moros. They turned at her arrival._

_"Why have you awoken me?" Astarea wasn't asking, she was demanding._

_"The Wraith has infiltrated Atlantis. Whoever gets near them, gets killed. I do not want to risk another life." Melia looked at Moros to continue._

_"We read in the database that the first of our kind left behind one of their own for the future and that the one was trained to destroy any Wraith that ever infiltrated Atlantis."_

_"Is there anything that the others left behind to protect Atlantis?"_

_"No, there is not. I was no supposed to awaken until at least ten thousand years later." She was agitated now._

"Wait a minute. What do you mean by "left behind"? This is the city of the ancients!" McKay bit off a chunk of his power bar.

"We decided that it was best that we would evacuate most of my generation to other worlds where the Wraith had never touched and the few who that remained relocate our city to where it is today. It is that so if the Wraith ever found Atlantis, there would still be our kind. Over the thousands of years, the evacuated populated this galaxy and so different customs were made, different races were created and the knowledge of their origin came lost. Some the evacuated grandchildren returned and populated Atlantis like you have."

_"We understand. Would you be able to kill ten Wraith?"_

_"Why should I? I was not supposed to awaken at this time."_

_"Just eliminate those them, please. They are the ones tampering with our systems, enabling them to stop the Stargate from activating." Melia looked at Astarea with kind eyes._

_"Fine, but after this, I will return to my chamber to wait for the future."_

_"Of course."_

"When I got to the designated area, the Wraith there had developed over the thousands of years since I last saw them."

"When did you first see them?" asked John.

"The first time was when we first came to this galaxy. We were on a different planet from this one and there we came in contact with a creature you call the Iratus bug." John cringed at the name. "When the danger became clear, we moved Atlantis to this remote planet unknown to the Wraith."

Rodney held up a finger again. "You're saying that the Alterans inadvertently made the Wraith?"

"I did not say that. Whoever made the Wraith is unknown to myself as well."

Rodney scoffed which earned a look shot by Elizabeth. "How can you not know? You were awake at the time."

"Over the years of being in the stasis chamber, it has some-what…" She paused and thought for a moment. "…made my memory fuzzy as to what transpired several thousand years ago. During this time, the machines in the lab you found me in informed me of information about the happenings of this city. The extensive knowledge of events that covers thousands of years makes my original and personal memories deteriorate."

_When Astarea got there, eight of the ten Wraith were huddled around the database while the one stood guard at the door, she didn't know where the last one was but didn't really care. She gripped her spear as she charged at the Wraith guard, silently as she could. She stabbed him right in the stomach as it gasped. Astarea yanked the spear out of him. The Wraith dropped dead._

_When it gasped, it alerted the others and two more came out._

_Astarea cursed under her breath and killed off the first one but was thrown backwards by the second Wraith. Astarea groaned in pain as the Wraith fired two shots from the stunner. She quickly dodged it but the second shot hit the edge of her leg. She got up quickly, ignoring the pain of her leg, and slammed the Wraith on the wall, cutting off it's air supply when she was pulled back, lifted and knocked to the ground. The second Wraith gently put his foot over her head before applying pressure until the pain numbed her._

_She gritted her teeth together, forcing herself not to yell out in pain. The first Wraith stood next to her and positioned Astarea's spear over her back. Astarea decided that it was time to do something and swiped at the second Wraith's foot that was on the ground, knocking it over. She quickly rolled out of the spear's pathway as the Wraith lunged at her. She rolled away and stood up, grabbing her spear in the process. She was now in between the two Wraiths as they both charged at her the same time. She held the spear horizontally. By the time the Wraith registered in their minds what she did it was too late. The impact of the spear in their stomach made a sick squelching sound._

"How can you kill them that fast?" Everyone looked at Rodney. "Well, it takes more than a round of P-90 to kill one, how can you kill them with a simple stick?"

"Their healing systems were not as advanced as they are now. Over the generations, they have gotten crops worth picking and have fed on them. Now, their healing systems are at a stage where they can no longer advance."

_She shoved the stick down and took the Wraith stunner and shot multiple shots at the five Wraiths inside. They all fell back barely able to move as Astarea took out her daggers and stabbed each one of them in the throat, making them unable to breathe, eliminating them. There was only one left and she didn't know where it was._

_She walked around the area, scouting it, before she was spun around face to face to the last Wraith. It pulled back its hand and slammed into her. Just as it was about to feed, Astarea stabbed him in the stomach area and ripped the daggers outward from inside. The Wraith stopped before it fell backward._

_"You...shall...regret...the day...you stepped foot...in our galaxy!" gasped the Wraith as it stabbed Astarea with his claws before dieing._

_Astarea fell down and gasped for breath as she focused on healing herself. She dragged herself to the intercom she hit the toggle switch._

_"It is…done," Astarea coughed out._

_"Thank you."_

_Astarea wearily stood up and leaned against the wall as she dragged herself to the stasis chamber where she once came, healing herself along the way._

"Um, don't mind me interrupting but how can you heal yourself? You don't have the DNA as a Wraith so how can you heal yourself," asked Carson as he looked up from his laptop.

"My DNA is the first of your kind and had healing abilities. Since then, it has degenerated and the advanced healing abilities are no more," Astarea explained.

Teyla sat up in her chair. "Does that mean that you, the Alterans, are no more? You are the last of your kind?"

"Yes for the Alterans are the ones who first lived here yet did not ascend, choosing death over power over the universe."

"Why choose death when you can still live on?" John's brow furrowed.

"Because having the power over the universe is powerful and dangerous. It consumes some, the ones who are foolish enough to use it for personal enjoyment. They turned against the others but were banished from this galaxy."

"Wow." John along with the others in the room was speechless. "And you got all of that from the devices in the lab over the years?" Astarea nodded.

Elizabeth cleared her throat and started gathering her notes. "Well that explains a lot. I believe you must be tired and hungry. Would you like to eat something?"

"Food would be nice."

"I'll show her to commissary then to her quarters." John stood up as Astarea shook her head.

"I will be able to find my quarters on my own but I would like the see your commissary."

"Sure thing. Follow me."

Once John and Astarea left the room and was out of earshot, Elizabeth turned to the others who looked back questioningly.

"I suspect that you too feel that there is something not right with her or you would have left with John." The look on their faces made Elizabeth nod in the affirmative. "If she is hiding something, I want to know what it is. Dismissed."

Just as they left, Elizabeth sighed and put her head in her hands. Teyla, being the last one to leave the room and was still able to see into it, saw the tired look on her face. Elizabeth almost dozed off then and there but remembered that she was still on duty and decided to go back to her office to finish up on some reports.

There was one thought on her mind when she walked through the control room towards her office.

'Why does John always have to be Captain Kirk with these situations?'

tbc...

* * *

Please Review!

Dark Card Mistress


	4. Questions

**Ties That Bind**

Chapter Four: Questions

"_Apollyon?" _

"_He is not here," said the elder._

"_Where is he?"_

"_He is not your concern."_

"_You trained me to fight the Wraith. I will not fight until I find out where he is!"_

"_It is not your concern." _

Elizabeth's eyes snapped open and sat up straight, groaning at her neck pain. She saw white in front of her and realised that it was a piece of paper stuck to her face from the sweat that now trickled down the side of her face. She snatched the paper off her face and checked the time on her watch. 6 AM in the morning. She had fallen asleep in her office again after working late…again.

She knew that the arrival of Astarea and the dreams in the same time frame wasn't just a mere coincidence. She wanted to tell John but she hadn't seen much of him since Astarea woke up a month ago.

* * *

"Jumper two, move out." Elizabeth stood on the balcony with a radio in her hand. 

"Roger that ma'am," said the marine inside the Jumper.

"Well Carson, looks like you're not getting out of this!" a smug Rodney commented as he slapped Carson on the back. Hard.

Carson coughed. "Why, why do I have to go to pick up our supply of food this week?"

"I don't know what's so scary, you just go through a Stargate, for god's sake! You've been through before!"

"And that first time was unnerving. I may not know much about the Stargate system and all-"

"Heaven's forbid." Carson merely ignored the statement.

"But one of the things that I _do_ know is that you get demolecurised and sent through a wormhole through space! I don't know about you but that thought alone is quite unnerving."

"Get over it Carson! I've personally been through that Stargate thousands of times, knowing the ins and outs of what happens, and I'm totally fine with it, and still around to shine my amazing brilliance in your faces!"

"What brilliance?" came a mutter from Carson. "Besides, that's different!"

"Define to me how that can be different?"

"Hey you two! Stop bickering back there!" one of the marines called back as they went through the event horizon.

"I bloody hate that," Carson mumbled as he fidgeted.

"Oh please." Rodney rolled his eyes.

They landed near the gate on Eirene and all stepped out.

"Okay doctors, we'll get the supplies while you do what you do best. Meet back here in two hours," said the marine just as Carson was about to protest.

"Hey wait, aren't we meant to-"

"Come along Carson." Carson didn't get to finish his sentence when he was being dragged off elsewhere.

* * *

"Dr. Weir! What a pleasant surprise." Dr. Kate Heightmeyer looked at Elizabeth on her doorstep. Elizabeth was one of the strongest women that Kate had known and she knew that Elizabeth would never visit her despite her persuasions, yet here she was. 

"Kate, do you think you could spare a few minutes?"

"Of course. By all means, please, take a seat."

Elizabeth stepped in the room and sat down on the nearest sofa. She surveyed it and noticed that it was a lot better than hers. For one, she had fresh air and it had an amazing view.

"So, what's been bothering you?" Kate got her notepad out.

"How do you know that something's been bothering me?"

"Why else would you be here?"

"Point taken."

They sat in silence for a while; the only noise was of the curtains swishing around from the wind that Kate put up near her windows. The weather outside was warm with a cool breeze that made it very refreshing if anyone was to go outside to look at the vast scenery stretch across the horizon.

A place of relax, a place of calm and peace.

Things that Elizabeth just wasn't feeling inside.

"I've been having dreams." Elizabeth now sat up with her arm around one of her knees, brought up to her chest.

"What of?"

"Astarea. She's sad and is calling out or finding someone by the name of Apollyon."

"When did this start?" Elizabeth sighed.

"About a month ago."

"So, about the time where we met her?"

"Yes."

Kate didn't look up from her notepad. "What are your personal thoughts of Astarea?"

"She's nice, I suppose, but I feel that something just isn't right with her."

"Is it due to her interaction with Major Sheppard perhaps?" Elizabeth looked up.

Confusion was stamped on Elizabeth's face and was just about to answer when she was paged to one of the scientists' lab.

"Excuse me." said Elizabeth as she got up and left the room, leaving Kate in her own thoughts.

* * *

About half an hour later, they arrived at the village and Rodney had explained to Carson what exactly was going on. 

"Elizabeth would like to know more about the ceremony that was performed and wants to see if the Eirenes are who they seem to be. The nice, friendly 'we can be allies' people."

Carson pointedly said, "I see. Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"Well, we didn't have time and…"

"And?"

"I forgot to tell you ok! So sue me! But now, you know! Problem solved!"

Carson was just about to threaten him with the biggest needle he had for his next medical examination when they almost bumped into a statue. They both looked up to see that it was a statue of two people, one female and one male. Neither of them had any distinguishing features. The female had medium length hair whilst the male had short hair that spiked a bit. The female was fairly tall and her height matched the male's so they were only a few centimetres apart in height.

One set of hands clutched a staff that came to their noses, while the other set held a sword together and was positioned as if they both drew their hands together simultaneously to destroy the staff. Even though the statue was made of stone and clay, the sword wasn't. On the contrary, the sword was made of metal, steel most likely, with a single jewel with the darkest blue colour encrusted into the base of the blade.

"The female looks a bit like Astarea, aye?"

Both doctors admired the statue and bent down to read the faint writing at the base of the statue. Euphrosyne called out to them before they were able to decipher what it said, amidst the dirt and dust that covered it.

"Ah! Doctor McKay! I see that you and your friend are fond of the statue of the protectors? Whom have you brought on this day?" Euphrosyne said with a big smile on his face, which irritated Rodney sometimes.

"This is Doctor Beckett," Rodney introduced as Carson waved.

"Hello." Carson was thinking how could a person smile that wide when he greeted him. "Sorry to ask this, but is there a story behind this statue?"

"Why of course! These are the two ancestors who made the planet what it is today. Legend says that there was once a horrible enemy that walked on this planet and imprisoned our forefathers. The two ancestors combined their power and banished the enemy, releasing our fore fathers and made the ground fertile, which gave our forefathers hope to build settlements here. They built this statue in their name and ever since then, the enemy has not returned in over five thousand years."

"Just out of curiosity, do you or any of the villagers venture beyond the Stargate?"

"Never. The cave where the horrible enemy once resided in is beyond the Stargate. Many have feared that venturing there would bring back the enemy and the ancestors have also made it their wish for us not to venture there."

Rodney piped up. "We were wondering something, Euphrosyne. You know the ceremony that we took the first time we met? Well how exactly does the ceremony work exactly?"

"Well, Doctor, it's very simple. We pray to the ancestors and they respond through nature. They told us not to call them gods but ancestors though we few still believe them as gods."

"Do you pray to both of them?" Carson pointed at the statue.

"We mainly pray to the female since she is the one who protects us, the Star Maiden. The male helps with the crops and healing."

Rodney scoffed. "Healing? How does that work?"

"There is a stream nearby that possesses healing abilities. The male ancestor was kind enough to bless us with the water."

"Do they have names?"

"Of course they do!" Carson and Rodney looked at Euphrosyne, willing him to go on. "We just don't know it."

"Okay then! Um, Euphrosyne, I need to have a word with Dr. Beckett," said Rodney, leading Carson away.

"What's the matter with you lad?"

"You remember how there was ancient writing on the side of the stasis pod where they found Astarea. It said, _here sleeps the teacher of the new world, the Star Maiden_. Something's not right here. If Astarea really does protect this world, I wonder how can she?"

"I'm not following you."

"The ancestors reply to the prayers through nature, right?"

"Yes, Rodney, they do. What is your point?"

"Only ascended beings have the power to control nature and Astarea isn't ascended."

* * *

"Come in." 

Elizabeth looked up from her work and saw Teyla at her door.

"Teyla! What a surprise! To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I wondered perhaps you know the whereabouts of Major Sheppard?"

"He's with Astarea, Ford and Stackhouse, exploring the city."

"I see. Thank you Dr. Weir."

Teyla turned to leave but stopped short when Elizabeth spoke again.

"Teyla, you knew that. Why are you here, really?"

"Now is not the time nor is it the place to say."

"Well then, let's go to the commissary, its lunchtime anyway." Elizabeth saved her documents on her laptop and closed it before walking out with Teyla.

* * *

"Sorry for the interruption." Rodney and Carson turned their attention back to Euphrosyne. 

"It is alright."

"So who or what else are you protected from? The Wraith?" Carson asked as Rodney rolled his eyes and was about to make a wise-ass comment when Euphrosyne said something first which shocked the doctors.

"I'm sorry, who?"

tbc...

* * *

Sorta cliche but oh well... Reviews are nice :) 

Dark Card Mistress


	5. Liars

**Ties That Bind**

Chapter Five: Liars 

Elizabeth and Teyla decided on a table in the corner of the commissary and sat down with their food.

"So, Teyla, what did you want to talk about?" Elizabeth asked, while bitting into her sandwich.

"I would like to talk to you about the ancient that we found." Teyla replied, also taking a bite of her own sandwich.

"Oh? What's wrong?" Elizabeth asked, confusion etched on her face.

"I believe that she is hiding something from us." Teyla responds. "I feel like she's not being entirely truthful with us with everything"

"How so? Is this just your instincts talking or is there more to it? " Elizabeth retorts back.

"Have you not noticed that she has taken an immediate affection for Major Sheppard and him only?" Teyla explained.

"What, you're not jealous are you?" A smirk appears after that statement.

"No, I am not. I am simply concerned for his safety. As each day passes, I feel uneasy to her presence." Teyla counters.

"Like a Wraith?"

"It is...difficult, to explain. It is not the same feeling I get when near a Wraith but it is similar yet different." Teyla explains.

"I see. We'll keep a close eye on her."

"It is best if this remained between the two of us and Lt. Ford."

"Lt. Ford?" Elizabeth raised a brow.

"I told him when I first felt the feeling, which was after everyone left the day she was revived. He instructed me to tell you."

"Thank you. In the meantime while we're figuring this out, observe any suspicious actions."

Teyla nodded just as Elizabeth was called to the control room leaving Teyla with their sandwiches.

* * *

"Elizabeth. Something's definitely wrong here!" Rodney reported over the radio on the Eirene.

"What is it, Rodney?" Elizabeth sat down in the chair in front of the control panel.

"It's either they are living in a dream world or living under a rock for the past few millennia or something, but get this, the Eirenes never heard of the Wraith before."

Shocked, Elizabeth looked over at the gate technicians with sees them wearing the same look on their faces.

Elizabeth asked uncertainly, "How is that even possible?"

"I'm not sure wether I want to know how it's possible. But Elizabeth, there's also something else. You remember in the ceremony how they prayed to the ancestors right?"

A frown appears on her face now. "Yes. Very clearly."

"And how they pray to the ascended beings and get replied back by nature's forces right? I mean just think about it! If that's the case then only someone who has ascended can possibly have enough power to go do that. Well they pray to two ancestors, a male and a female. The male fertilizes crops and like 'blesses them' with what, Holy Water or something equally as 'pure', whereas the female basically protects them from enemies and eight-legged evil bunnies or whatever and the like…" By now, Rodney was explaining things at an alarming speed.

"Rodney! Get to the point!" Elizabeth was surprised that she still had some patience.

"Oh, what? Oh yes, yes! Getting to the point. The female ancestor they pray to they call the Star Maiden, yes? And you remember how I told you that on the side of the stasis pod it said _here sleeps the teacher of the new world, the Star Maiden_. Put 2 and 2 together and Bingo! Astarea is the Star Maiden!"

"Wait a minute. If you say that only ascended beings have the power of nature, then how can Astarea do that if she isn't ascended?"

"Exactly! Someone is pulling wool over our eyes, Elizabeth."

"Okay, I'll send Sheppard, Ford and Teyla to scout out the area beyond the village just to be sure."

"Okay then. We'll call again in about three hours after you send them. Right then! McKay out." The gate shutdown.

She turns to the nearest technician. "Please page Teyla, Sheppard and Ford to the conference room, immediately. Enforce to them that it's urgent." The technician nodded

"Yes ma'am." And did as he was told.

* * *

"What has McKay done now?" John asked as he flaunted in with his team walked in.

"Actually he didn't do anything. But he did bring something to my attention though," Elizabeth said as she explained what happened.

"No. There must be some mistake. That can't be right."

"She is hiding something from us, John."

"I trust Astarea."

"We just need more time to get to know her."

"She's been here for a month! How much more time do you need?" Teyla and Ford sent each other with uneasy looks at the tone of John's voice.

"There is just something about her that just doesn't add up!"

"Fine! We'll scout out the area but I guarantee you, that she is not involved!"

"We shall see about that."

"There's also something else. I want her on our team."

Just as she look downward, her head snapped up at that request. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. She's more valuable to us if she's out there instead of here on base." John gestured at the Stargate.

Elizabeth gave him a firm stare. "We'll talk about this when you get back with all of your team. Dismissed."

John bit back a remark and gritted out, "Fine. Atlantis one, gear up. We're moving out." John marched out of the room with Teyla and Ford doing nothing but following from behind.

Elizabeth sighed. As she sat down, she began to feel nauseous and decided to rest in her room after Atlantis one departed.

* * *

"Ah! Major Sheppard and his merry men! So nice of you guys to join us!" Rodney said in a sickly sweet voice as the trio stepped out of the gate.

"You sound like a child who was caught for having his hand in the cookie jar," John commented as he walked up to him.

"Wouldn't mind a cookie, now that you mention it." John rolled his eyes.

"Marines! Send the food back to Atlantis."

"Yes sir." One of the marines signalled the pilot to prepare for take-off.

After the Jumper went through the Stargate, John, Ford and Teyla went to explore while Carson and Rodney went back to the village to see if they could learn more.

On the left side of the Stargate, there was a tree line and beyond it, a forest, which seemed to stretch over the horizon. John grimaced, hoping that it wouldn't have to come to exploring there.

tbc...

* * *

Please Review

Dark Card Mistress


	6. Not much of an Intergalactic Waste of

_I'm putting this fic under AU now since I read up on season three spoilers _

**Ties That Bind**

Chapter Six: Not much of an Intergalactic Waste of Time

"You know, I'm starting to think is an intergalactic waste of time. Astarea's a good person, don't you think?" John looked at Teyla and Ford. They exchanged glances. Atlantis One had been walking along the tree line for one hour and they still hadn't found anything. There wasn't really much to be seeing too. It was basically trees, trees, oh look a flower, more trees and grass.

"Well sir, I'm not so sure." Ford was unsure if it was the wisest thing to say.

"Not you too! Teyla?"

A sigh was heard. "There is indeed something peculiar about that woman."

It was John's turn to sigh. "Fine. Well, there's nothing here so we might as well head back and save our CMO from the clutches from 'Mr. Invulnerable'. Lets hope they had no more luck than-"

John paused when he heard a click and at the same time, felt something under his shoe. He looked down and saw that it looked like a mine detonator.

"Aw hell. Um, Lieutenant! A little help here!" John called out to Ford and Teyla who were ahead. They turned their heads to see that John was standing awfully still.

"Major, what's wrong? I thought you wanted to leave." Ford laughed.

"Ha, ha, very funny. I think I'm on a mine." If the situation weren't so serious, John would have laughed at Ford's expression.

"It's either 'I am on a mine' or not! It can't be an 'I think I'm on a mine'!" Ford took out his knife.

"I'm on a mine then but what are mines doing on this world?"

John's question remained unanswered as Ford tried to reassure him. "Just hold still, sir."

He bent down and carefully slid the knife between John's shoe and the mine, whilst applying pressure to hold the mine down.

"Okay sir, slowly step back. Slowly."

John did as he was told and they all sighed in relief.

"Now, we need something real heavy," said John looking through his pack to see if anything inside would do.

"Would this be heavy enough?" Teyla held up a heavy looking laptop and John just stared intensively at the laptop in question.

"Teyla, why do you have a laptop in your bag?"

"Dr. McKay took my pack instead of his so I took his and his has a laptop."

"You know that he'll be pretty pissed off if it blows up."

"There's more on Atlantis, he could get a new one." Ford's voice was strained. "Just put the damn thing on! I can't hold down the knife like this forever!"

They carefully placed the laptop on the knife and John and Teyla backed away.

"Put that large stone over there in case it isn't heavy enough," said Ford, through his gritted teeth.

Teyla ran to the stone, picked it up and slowly put it on the laptop. Ford carefully slid his knife out and the trio backed away. When it was evident that it would not blow up, they sighed in relief. They started to walk calmly back to the Stargate, careful they didn't step on anything they shouldn't, when the rock slipped off. It looked like the laptop wasn't heavy enough as the mine blew up and knocked the trio on their backs and backsides, meters away.

They lifted themselves up so they were in a sitting position. Teyla massaged her shoulders as the other two got up and walked over to the hole in the ground while coughing and dusting the sand out of their eyes.

"Well this is unexpected," commented John.

Teyla quickly got up and walked over to their position to see what was so interesting. There in the ground was not a hole but a stairwell, heading down beneath the planet.

Teyla exchanged glances. "So it would seem."

* * *

Carson and Rodney were heading back to the gate when they heard a large explosion and hoped that none of the villagers would pay attention to that.

"It's a miracle how any of you are even alive," muttered Carson as he clicked on his radio. "Major Sheppard. Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that doc! Just a little trouble with a mine!" Over the radio, John coughed.

"Do I want to know how it came to that?"

"No, not really. You're better off not knowing, especially McKay."

Rodney perked up at his name. "Why? What happened?"

"Lets just say that you'll need to swing by the supplies closet to get something when you're back at Atlantis." Carson didn't know who to feel sorry for, Ford or Rodney.

"_You took my pack?_" Rodney screaming into his radio made a couple of villagers glance at them.

"You took mine first Doctor." Rodney gritted his teeth. How can Teyla be so calm?

"You destroyed my laptop!"

"Ah yes, but if we didn't, we would be short of a person or people." John could almost hear Rodney grit his teeth over the radio. He laughed at that.

"Are any of you hurt?" Carson butted in before Rodney could yell something profane.

"Nothing serious! Little bruises, here and there. Well the good news is that we're alive and we found a staircase under the mine, which we are now walking down. Dial in and let good ol' Dr. Weir what we're doing then come to our position. Shouldn't be hard to find, it's smouldering!"

"Roger that. Come on Rodney." Carson sighed and dragged Rodney, who was still whining about his long lost, and now smouldering, laptop.

* * *

"Well, now that we got that out of the way, let's see what we got ourselves into." John, Ford and Teyla all raised their P-90 and turned on the light. They walked down a corridor for a while and found that the place was void of anything that could light up the path. By the time they got to the end of the trail, they saw that they were at the entrance of a dimly lit large room.

Rodney's voice crackled over the radio. "Sheppard, please tell us that you're not down there."

"Then you better stop listening."

Carson looked to Rodney "This may be a problem,"

"Why? What's wrong?" asked Ford.

Rodney clicked over the radio. "Well, you know how there's that statue right smack bang in the middle of their village? Well there's actually a story behind it. The two Ancients that protected this place banished an evil enemy thousands of years ago and apparently there was a cave beyond the Stargate where the thing lived. We were expecting to actually find a proper cave but I think this is as close as they come. They fear that the enemy might come back if anyone venture there."

"And by the enemy you mean Wraith?"

"No, eight legged bunnies." A sarcastic remark.

"Okay, okay. Well then why don't they know about the Wraith?"

"Well they just called it the enemy…no specifics, no description. Only just that it was a horrible enemy. Just, try not to touch anything that would set anything off!"

"How can we do that if we don't know what does what?"

"We're coming down! Leave it to me!"

"Whatever." John clicked his radio off.

The trio sat down on the ground in the corridor and unpacked their gear while Ford took out cards. Teyla raised a brow.

"You never know when you need cards to pace out the time."

They proceeded to play a couple of rounds on the dirt floor of the corridor with only their torches as lights. Doubles. John was surprised to find that it wasn't just void of any proper lighting but also of insects and creatures of the like. Full House. Darn, Ford won again. Finally after loosing three times to Ford, John had enough of Poker, stood up and flashed the light of this P-90 into the room.

"Sir, the doc told us to stay put." Ford put down his cards.

"I'm not stepping in, just poking my head in to survey the room…sorta like recon." Ford smothered his grin behind his hand and begun dealing another hand.

The room was a semi-circular shape with a large podium in the middle. There were databases around the room with screens that indicted of ancient design. At the far back of the room, there was another corridor leading to a room further than where they were now.

"Royal Flush." John looked back and saw that Teyla had finished and won the game.

"Didn't see that coming," John commented.

"Yeah. I think I taught Teyla a bit too well." Teyla merely shrugged.

"You just don't like it that I beat you."

John grimaced as a bright light shone directly in his eyes. "Took your sweet time."

Ford and Teyla looked at Rodney and Carson only to see that they were puffed out with beads of sweat dripping down their side of face.

"I'm not used to this type of things!" Carson was huffing now.

"You know, you didn't have to run," Ford said now packing his cards away.

"But we knew that the Major here is an impatient little bugger."

Rodney cut in between pants. "You…blew…up…my…LAPTOP!"

"Oh please Dr. McKay. You can get a new one at Atlantis. You keep several spares, do you not?" asked Teyla.

"That's besides the point!"

"Could you stop yelling about so we can move on?" came and irritated reply from John.

"Fine, fine, fine."

"So then Mr I-know-everything, what should we do from here on?" John crossed his arms over his chest.

Rodney picked up a rock and threw it on the ground just beyond where they were standing. He picked up another rock and slid it along the ground. Still nothing happened.

"Ok, it's safe to enter," said Rodney proudly as if he had done something to truly to contribute. The rest just looked at him with an unimpressed look. "What?"

"Anyone could have done that," John said dryly.

"Ah yes! But no one did!" Everyone's response was shaking of heads and rolling of eyes.

"Okay, lets just get on with it or Weir will send another team after us." As soon as John stepped in, all of the screens turned on and the podium ejected a hologram of a star field of the Pegasus galaxy. Everyone stood around the podium to marvel at the glittery map of dots. Rodney went over to some of the databases near the podium but stood still when he heard footsteps. The others obviously heard it too. They swung around and flashed their P-90 at the empty corridor from the opposite side of the entrance.

When the lights hit the hallway, all they saw was a wisp of fog. Silence. Then the voice came. A deep male voice that screamed danger.

"What are you doing here?"

tbc...

* * *

Please Review! 


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